Unlike Sentence Error IDs, Sentence Improvements require not only that you recognize a mistake but also that you recognize how to fix it. Like Sentence Error IDs, some Sentence Improvements will have no error.

Here’s the Sentence Improvement item you saw earlier:

Sentence Improvements look like the typical SAT item: the stem is followed by the answer choices. The correct answer will be the best choice from among the answer choices, “best” meaning the clearest and most precise statement available. The correct answer will not introduce a new error. This allows for a few backward strategies, which we’ll soon present.

Use the following method every time you attempt a Sentence Improvement:

Here are some important notes on each step of this method:

Let’s apply this method by attempting item 1 in slow motion, making all thought processes explicit.

We’ll do this for you:

Studying was the student’s top priority is a clause preceded by an introductory clause. Since the SAT just loves to test clause structure, you’ve isolated the likely category of error.

Exactly who is eager to pass his final exams, the student or studying? We’ve got an error here! You can eliminate A.

Put the student next to the introductory clause:

Do not actually write down your potential fix, as doing so is almost certainly a waste of time. Scribble down the key point, if that helps. In this case: “the student’s” might be all you’d need to jot down in the margin of your test book. Experience will dictate what works best for you in particular situations.

Now you can look at the answer choices:

The answer is D. B looks okay, but it is less concise than D. Sometimes you’ll predict the precise answer; other times you won’t. For some errors, the fix is almost predetermined; for others, more than one potential fix will do. The more clauses in the item, the more likely it will be that more than one fix could apply.

Always do this, even when certain of your answer. Gaining even one point on the SAT test will make this extra, split-second step worthwhile.

We’d like to point out a few important strategies that you can resort to when you’re running out of time, or when you’re just stumped:

Eliminated A? Guess Away! If you’re sure something is wrong with the underlined portion of the sentence, but you’re not quite sure of what it is, just guess! As with eliminating E in Sentence Error ID, eliminating A in Sentence Improvement puts you ahead of the wrong-answer penalty.

Original Intent Remember that the correct answer cannot change the original meaning of the sentence. If you’re stuck, eliminate any answer choices that change the original meaning in some way.

Read My Lips: No New Errors The correct answer cannot introduce a new error. If you don’t know exactly what’s wrong with a sentence, or cannot come up with a good prediction in a timely manner, eliminate any answer choices that contain a new error.

Groupthink A particularly useful strategy derives from how the SAT structures Sentence Improvement answer choices. Look at the following item again:

We’ve bolded the first word or two to highlight that Sentence Improvement answer choices tend to fall into discrete groups. It’s unusual to see five totally different answer choices. Grouping makes the process of elimination all the more powerful because, if you can eliminate a group, you eliminate several answer choices in one fell swoop.

In this case, you have an introductory clause that may very well be a dangler: Eager to pass his final exams. Therefore your attention is already focused on what that clause should be modifying. You’re choosing between:

If you notice this grouping feature of the answer choices, it can help you troubleshoot three different scenarios:

If you don’t have the time to check all the possibilities, eliminate what you know to be wrong and guess from the remaining. For example, if you had decided that this sentence was in error, A would be automatically eliminated. Since A and E group, E is also eliminated. You’ve beaten the wrong-answer penalty, so guess away.

If you’re having trouble identifying the error in the stem (or whether there is an error in the stem), determining the answer-choice groupings can alert you to the potential error. In this case, the three groups of answer choices can help trigger your memory of the essential concept of dangling modifiers.

If you’re having trouble predicting a fix, go to the answer choices and use grouping not only to trigger your memory of essential concepts but also to efficiently work backward, eliminating potential groups of answer choices in sequence.

A final, last-ditch strategy is simply to choose the shortest answer choice. This is often, but not always, the correct choice. Whether you deploy this strategy will be a matter of judgment while taking the test. The more you practice, the better your judgment will be.

We’ll put these backward strategies in the context of handling Sentence Improvement sets and whole Writing sections later on in this book.

Let’s do some practice.

Try the following item on your own:

We’ll do this for you:

Write down the type of word, phrase, or clause.

Write down whether you think there is an error and what type of error it is. In this case, the entire sentence is underlined. This occurs every so often on the test.

Write down your potential fix.

Compare your potential fix to the answer choices provided below. Remember that you can use grouping and other backward strategies.

It’s always worthwhile to do this.

We did this for you.

For this item, you have two independent clauses (i.e., two clauses that could stand alone).

At this point, warning indicators in your head should be flashing: “Clause structure! Clause structure!” while a calm, deep voice repeats: “Do not panic. Please proceed directly to the connection between the clauses.”

Since it is not okay to join two independent clauses with a comma, there is an error here.

Remember that if commas are pauses, and periods are full stops, then semicolons are somewhere closer to a period than a comma. Semicolons can connect independent clauses:

Lift your 3-by-5-inch card to reveal:

There are often many possible fixes. If your prediction isn’t there, find an equivalent one in the choices.

In this case, C works just fine. Periods can also separate independent clauses.

Note, too, how the choices grouped:

E is not incorrect but C is better. It is more succinct and active than E. Answer E uses correct punctuation, but it introduces the passive voice and unnecessary words (the last hurrah).

Given the many potential fixes and the various backward strategies that can be employed, you may find yourself alternating between the stem, your prediction, and the answer choices in the manner we just demonstrated. This is to be expected. As your proficiency with Sentence Improvements increases, you’ll learn to alternate with increasing skill and speed.

Finally, take a moment to see the various ways in which you could have eliminated different groups of answer choices if you’d been stumped or pressed for time.

Always do this, as it is worthwhile every time.

After you complete the following item, look on the following page for the explanation.

Always do this.

There is the beginning of a series here: to paint, to knit, and . . . There is also a subordinate clause, until her hearing loss made it impossible for her to do so.

A series should trigger your memory of the essential concept of parallelism. Also, note the typical insertion of a camouflaging intervening clause. Don’t let that fool you.

Usually there would be two equivalent fixes for nonparallel series: all-infinitive or all-gerund. Note, however, that listening to opera is not underlined. That means it has to be taken as a given feature of any fixed sentence: it can’t be changed, which rules out the all-infinitive option.

There is only one workable potential fix:

Here are those answer choices again:

C matches your prediction. But wait—note how the choices group:

At this point, you already know that A, B, and D are out. But what about E? Don’t be so married to your potential fix that you refrain from entertaining another answer choice that matches the key part of your potential fix.

E, it turns out, is actually better than C. It’s more concise, which counts for a lot on the SAT.

Look again at step 2 in this explanation. We noted that there were actually two separate types of phrases in the underlined portion of the stem: the series and the subordinate clause. Also note how there is not one but two different ways to group the answer choices, each way tied to one of the two separate types of phrases in the underlined section:

Compare the two groupings, and you will quickly whittle down to the best answer.

Again, we’re purposely dragging out this explanation—in slow motion, so to speak—in order to make the thought processes totally clear. The more you practice, the faster you’ll get.

Will I always do this? Yes, you will. Is it always worthwhile to do so? Yes.